Umar Sadiq has failed to impress since joining Rangers.
Umar Sadiq’s time in Scotland is growing worse and worse by the day. His mediocre performance against Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup semi-final was overshadowed by diving, while Saturday’s latest snub will come as a bitter blow.
Sadiq, 21, was surprisingly handed his first start in one of Rangers’ biggest matches of the season last month, and failed to make an impact against a sturdy Dons defence.
His big moment came when he superbly took the ball past goalkeeper Joe Lewis late on, but decided to dive in order to win a penalty rather than just tapping the ball into an empty net.
It saw the Nigeria international at the centre of plenty of criticism from fans, pundits and even manager Steven Gerrard after the match. It did him no favours in his attempts to rise up the pecking order.
Indeed, Sadiq remains third choice behind Alfredo Morelos and Umar Sadiq, and with the duo returning against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night, he was dropped from the squad completely.
But it was Saturday’s exclusion that may be a signal for his future at Rangers. With Lafferty injured with a muscle problem for the St. Mirren victory, it had been expected for Sadiq to replace the Northern Irishman on the bench.
However, Sadiq was completely overlooked by Steven Gerrard who instead named the likes of Glenn Middleton and Daniel Candeias as attacking options, while Morelos, Ryan Kent and Eros Grezda started the match.
There have been rumours that Sadiq, who has only managed 116 minutes of senior football at Rangers, could see his season-long loan cancelled in January and return to AS Roma.
Saturday’s snub is surely another hint to Sadiq that his loan could end early, as he is not even considered good enough to replace Lafferty as second choice.
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